1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image information retrieving device suitable for being used to retrieve an image database from a facsimile terminal and the like via a network composed of telecommunication equipment, an image database device, an image information storing device and a recording medium on which a program performed by the image information retrieving device is recorded. This specification is based on patent applications in Japan (Japanese Patent Application Nos. Hei 8-277732(1996), Hei 8-289676(1996), Hei 8-330961(1996), Hei 8-330962(1996), Hei 8-330963(1996) and Hei 9-46173(1997), whose descriptions are incorporated herein as a part of this specification.
2. Description of the Related Art
Image information retrieving devices such as a facsimile BOX and the like have been heretofore proposed and put to practical use in order to realize a facsimile information service which carries out retrieval of image information from an image database by a facsimile terminal, via a network composed of telecommunication equipment. In general, as input/output device for facsimile terminals, there is the input/output of image information and voice information, and the input of numbers of from 0 to 9 and symbols * and # using a push button (hereinafter referred to as "PB"). However, only the PB has high reliability as an input device for input to an image information retrieving device from a facsimile terminal.
With the conventional image information retrieving device, retrieval (identification) of desired image information has been carried out by sending voice guidance to a facsimile terminal and transmitting PB signals from the facsimile terminal. For example, when a facsimile terminal is connected by phone to an image information retrieving device, the image information retrieving device will send the selection item corresponding to the PB to the facsimile terminal as voice guidance. When the PB corresponding to the selection item is pressed on the facsimile terminal, the corresponding PB signal is transmitted, and the image information retrieving device will recognize which PB is pressed by analyzing the received PB signal. Then, image information representative of the selection item corresponding to the PB is read out from the image information storing device connected to the image information retrieving device, and sent to the facsimile terminal.
With conventional image information retrieving devices, the processing procedure by means of the voice guidance and the PB to retrieve such desired image information is referred to as "voice response control procedure" or "service control procedure". Conventionally, the service control information which describes this service control procedure has been stored in the image information retrieving device. Namely, conventional facsimile image information retrieving device are operated according to one static service control procedure. Therefore, when changes such as addition or deletion are made in the image information stored in the image information storing device, the administrator of this image information retrieving device has had to change the service control information stored in the image information retrieving device. That is to say, with the conventional art, since the service control information has been stored in the block in the image information retrieving device, the control of the service control information has had to been performed in the block in the image information retrieving device.
Accordingly, when a system is constituted by arranging a plurality of image information storing devices separately from each other and connecting the image information retrieving device thereto via a network, and a number of people want to add or delete the image information separately at an optional time, the administrator has to rewrite the service control procedure of the image information retrieving device. Not only does this make the operation complicated, but also there may be a case where a desired image information cannot be correctly sent out to the facsimile terminal, if changes of the service control information, such as addition and deletion of the image information are not performed properly.
On the other hand, as a system for taking out information by accessing the WWW server on the Internet from a facsimile terminal there is for example WebFax and the like (see Literature: "Monthly Internet, February issue, 1997", SOFTBANK, P. 180-181). With these systems, an HTML file on the Internet is converted to image data for output to a facsimile and is output in response to input of a PB signal from a facsimile terminal. On the image data output to the facsimile, a number for taking out the data is assigned to a link point on a home page. Therefore, users can obtain the image data of the HTML file on the Internet by pressing a PB of a phone and a start button of a facsimile according to the voice guidance for the operation.
By using this system, users who have controlled the facsimile BOX and homepage of the Internet separately can update the information at the same time and provide the same information to a computer and a facsimile terminal. In addition, since this system can take in users of facsimile terminals, an increase in the number of users accessing a home page can be anticipated.
The conventional art described above, however, has the following problems:
(1) Since the voice guidance is stored in the image information retrieving device connected to facsimile terminals and fixed in the image information retrieving device, the administrator of home pages cannot change the voice guidance for each home page.
(2) With the image information retrieving device, since the HTML files per se which are the image data, are disposed separately by using the WWW server, it has been possible for a number of people to add or delete information individually on the HTML files at an optional time. However, service control information in which the service control procedure for facsimile terminals is described, has been stored in the image information retrieving device. Therefore, a number of home page producers cannot add or delete the guidance information or the service control information (the procedure for performing PB input for each home page), and service control information has had to be changed by the administrator of the image information retrieving device. Thus, since the service control information cannot be controlled separately, the administrator, who gives a description of service control procedures, has to grasp the whole and update the service control procedures in the image information retrieving device. As a result, as the scale of the whole service increases, it becomes difficult to grasp the whole service, resulting in the necessity to perform more complicated programming, so that the control thereof becomes more and more difficult.
(3) Furthermore, programming language such as individual type script language, C language, VisualBasic, MediaLogue (Matsushita Denki Sangyo Co., Ltd.) and the like have been conventionally used to describe the service control procedures. In these programming languages and script language, conditional branch is realized by means of "If conditional expression Then sentence 1 Else sentence 2", or "if (expression) sentence 1 else sentence 2", to describe the control structure, and declaration of a variable to be used has been required in advance. Since these programming languages do not premise retrieval of the image database by using a facsimile terminal, they have a freedom to realize a wide program. On the other hand, they have a problem in that it is difficult for users such as administrators having no programming experience, to perform programming.
(4) When the information to be retrieved is in a deep portion of a link structure of an HTML file, in the conventional device, it has been necessary to output first (i)_HTML file, then call again to output (ii)_HTML file, and call again to output (iii)_HTML file. Therefore, it has been necessary to make a call many times to retrieve information in a deep portion of the link structure, thus taking time.
(5) When a home page having a button, text field, select box and the like written by FORM (see literature: "The HTML SOURCE BOOK", Ian S. Graham, ISBNO-471-11849-4) which is a tag for executing CGI (Common Gateway Interface) is output, the output is carried out by ignoring the portion of the FORM tag, or otherwise the button, text field, select box, execution button or the like is output in a state of default on a sheet of paper. When retrieval is performed by using a computer, the retrieval condition is specified by clicking a button or selection item displayed on a screen, and inputting a character string in a text field, and retrieval is performed by clicking an execution button so that the retrieval results can be displayed on the screen. When retrieval is performed by using a facsimile terminal, however, buttons, text field, select box, execution button and the like are displayed, but since they are displayed on a sheet of paper and the telephone line is already disconnected by phone, pressing respective buttons or input thereto cannot be performed. Therefore, there has been such a problem that retrieval by specifying the retrieval condition cannot be performed by utilizing a CGI program on the WWW server.
In view of the above situation, it is an object of the present invention to realize an image information retrieving device and an image database device using the same, wherein, in an image database which can be searched from an image communication terminal such as a facsimile terminal, even if a number of people add or delete image information separately at an optional time, it is not necessary to rewrite the service control procedure in the image information retrieving device every time.
Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide; an image information retrieving device utilizing the WWW on the Internet from a facsimile terminal which can solve the problems indicated above from (1) to (5), an image database device, an image information storing device, and a recording medium on which a program performed by the image information retrieving device is stored.